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Tim Trowac and Dave Rahall, two former investment bankers, skillfully execute the leveraged buyout of a golf ball recycling company after working intensely on their due diligence, writing a business and financial plan, and developing the investment memorandum. Six months later, they question the competency of their management team, which they had assembled from former Explo employees rather than conduct extensive searches. Now financial results are poor. Trowac and Rahall need to explain the poor performance and come up with an action plan for their investors.

A condensed version of Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc. The principal changes are the elimination of details about the early history of the company and condensation of the final section, Outlook for the Future.

When portfolio planning was introduced in the late 1960s, its advocates believed it to be the key to most strategic planning problems. Now, interviews with CEOs, staff planners, and division line managers reveal that portfolio planning can improve business strategy, but only when it is used with other techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. It helps individual business units understand their competitive strengths, guides top management in identifying divestiture candidates, and promotes the efficient management of existing resources.

Describes the first four years of Jack Welch's tenure as CEO of the General Electric Co. Deals with the ways Welch has tried to change GE's strategy and planning activities and his attempts to make the company more entrepreneurial.

Describes events at Cleveland Twist Drill between April 1982 and February 1983. Jim Bartlett's approach to the union and the implementation of the "move strategy" are described. Students are asked to evaluate these actions and to develop plans for dealing with current problems and with recent overtures from the union president.

Deals with the problems of implementing strategy in a declining industry and the negotiation of strategy with external constituencies, particularly labor unions. Traces Jim Bartlett's first nine months as president and asks for a plan of action.

A series on implementing strategy as the head of the U.S. subsidiary of a successful Swiss medical products firm. Traces the actions of the CEO over a four year period and highlights his negotiations with the Swiss parent and the way functional components of the strategy were developed and integrated. Describes Hans Wyss' first eight months as CEO of Orthoteks USA.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Presents a framework for thinking about problems of implementing strategy. Defines the tasks of implementation and the range of implementation situations, then develops four approaches to implementation and reviews a range of implementation skills. Intended for use in Business Policy II in conjunction with case studies.

Describes the introduction and evolution of General Electric's strategic planning system from the 1960s to Jack Welch's tenure. Allows discussion of the interplay of problems and circumstances to the evolution of the strategic planning system, and how Welch might use or alter the system to meet the challenge of growth.

Covers history of PC&D from 1960 to 1975 as it grows from a single business firm to a diversified firm. Emphasizes the use of subsidiaries for product development and fast growth. Other issues include problems of a new CEO in keeping control of fast growing divisions.

The need for the effective management of stagnant industries will grow as more and more industries decline or increase only modestly. A study investigating 12 stagnant industries focuses attention on strategies determining the success or failure of those industries. Research reveals three common characteristics of the strategies of businesses successful in stagnant industries: 1) they identify, create, and exploit growth segments within their industries; 2) they emphasize product quality and innovative product improvement; and 3) they systematically and consistently improve the efficiency of their production and distribution systems.

Studies show the positive correlation between profitability and market share. Yet, businesses with low market shares may not be at a disadvantage and can profit by exploiting their smallness. Low market share businesses must replace broad strategy with specific and far-ranging strategy. Burroughs, Crown Cork & Seal, and Union Camp all hold small shares of their industries, yet they compete with the largest corporations in their average returns on equity. Their strategy involves four major points outlined here.

Supplements the (A) case.

Describes the technical, economic, and competitive trends in the metal container industry. The strategy of Crown Cork and Seal is then described in relation to these trends. Focuses on two immediate threats to Crown's strategy: the future of aerosol cans, given the ozone problem; and the impact of the banning of nonreturnable containers.